Comments on: Contact

By: Cori

Cori — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:30:15 +0000

Hi Rachel,
I am a Special Education parent entering the lottery for Kindergarten for 2012/2013. It seems like there is a great deal of confusion regarding how Special Ed assignments are made. I was wondering if you could point me to some more detailed information about the assignment process, especially regarding Inclusion. I’ve heard from various people at the school district that spots are set aside for inclusion and that they are not. I think this information might be helpful to those of us who are spending our time looking for schools.
Thank you very much!

By: rpnorton

rpnorton — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:12:52 +0000

@Isabella, it looks as if the staff’s proposal is to let kids eligible for TK to attend Kindergarten for two years. There are some advantages to this — we avoid a wave of transfers as TK kids transfer out of one school and into an elementary school of choice after the first year of TK, for one thing, and also transportation headaches, which we can’t afford anyway. On the other hand, the staff proposal basically is status quo, with a nod toward creating a specialized TK curriculum in name only. I don’t think that is within the spirit of the TK legislation, even though right now it is feeling like an unfunded mandate. In your case, the staff proposal would allow your son to attend his older siblings’ current school, as he would receive sibling preference as a TK just as he would have under the current eligibility date.

I’ll keep you posted via the blog.

By: isa Levux

isa Levux — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:40:11 +0000

Hi Rachel,

I’m the parent of a transitional K kid next year and was wondering if there was any new step taken towards creating that program and where? My other kids were enrolled at Clarendon and this next year was my last chance to get the little one enrolled there too. You can imagine how anxious we are now, as it is really not fair to him. Could the district let parents enroll the regular way, as before, if we sign up for the mandatory 2 year program? And as money is tight, if SFUSD has to pick a few schools to implement that program, it shall go for the larger and most popular ones, giving the kids the opportunity to repeat K but with a different teacher.
Is there anyone I shall try to contact to discuss further steps?

Thanks very much for reading us, concerned parents.

Isabella

By: Terry Weber

Terry Weber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:38:19 +0000

Am I reading your June 20th post correctly? Are your really saying that the approximately $12 million in IDEA stimulus money will go to opening 12 new classrooms and ‘uping” the amount of money the district pays for tuition for private schools?

Gee–how do I get in on the private school wagon train? I have a kid who would benefit from a few years at the Armstrong school and the special ed teachers at my SFUSD location don’t seem to know what to do with her!! Why aren’t we training our staff so we don’t need to outsource to private schools! This is completely unfair to the majority of families who can’t afford or wouldn’t know how to advocate to get a specialized education outside the district.

I am shocked if I am reading this correctly! We so need professional development!

By: orlando Martinez

orlando Martinez — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:27:07 +0000

When you get elected remeber this.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress will be judged by what its children are taught.

The National Teachers Bill of Rights

1. Teachers have the right to practice in a manner that fulfills their moral obligations to society, God and to those that they teach.

2. To create classes that are relevant to the children’s future, that fulfills their moral obligations to society. To create classes that return vitality, and self esteem to the Teachers/Euators.

3. Teachers have the right to a work environment that supports and
facilitates ethical practice, in accordance with the Code of Ethics for
Teachers and its interpretive statements.

4. Teachers have the right to freely and openly advocate for themselves and their students, without fear of retribution.

5. Teachers have the right to fair compensation for their work, consistent
with their knowledge, experience, and professional responsibilities.

6. Teachers have the right to a work environment that is safe for themselves and their students.

7. Teachers have the right to negotiate the conditions of their employment, either as individuals or collectively, in all practice settings.

8. .Teachers have the right to practice in environments that allow them to act in accordance with professional standards and legally authorized scopes of practice.

Disclaimer: that this is an TBR consensus but “does not necessarily reflect the rights embodied in state and federal law”.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:30:36 +0000

Hi Rachel. Congratulations and welcome to the Board. I sincerely hope you make a difference. All the best to you!

By: rpnorton

rpnorton — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:43:20 +0000

Thank you. I am genuinely sorry about the problems your family is having. I think it is always important to be friendly when people take the time to come before the Board to tell us about issues and problems that they are having in the schools.

Best,
Rachel

By: David L

David L — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:03:54 +0000

Rachel.

Last night’s board meeting, I was impressed about your friendly smile, yet was not able to give you any response.

Now, with this website, hopefully, we can communicate more effectively.

By: Atul Varma

Atul Varma — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:46:26 +0000

I’d like to echo rob sturm’s sentiments. Only 7 out of the 15 candidates had websites, and 6 of them merely felt like web-based versions of campaign flyers. This is the only one that actually has a blog with comments enabled; not only does this show your passion for your field, but it’s also a great way to promote transparency in the system. To that end, I hope that once you’re elected you’ll continue to blog about the issues that you care about so that those of us outside the system have a low-barrier way to learn more about them and participate.

By: Karen Weinstein

Karen Weinstein — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:50:42 +0000

Hi Rachel,

Good Luck, from an Emerge sister, Karen Weinstein